The present invention relates to a card support structure for removably supporting an expansion card such as an ISA-type card or a PCI-type card, and also to an information apparatus, such as a PC server or a desk-top computer, which has the card support structure.
PC servers are becoming indispensable in LAN systems, because they link a plurality of workstations and computers, thereby accomplishing an efficient use of the local area networks. A PC server has a housing. The housing contains a hard disk drive of a large storage capacity, a floppy disk drive, and an optical disk drive. The housing also contains a user-open area, in which expansion cards (i.e., optional components) may be held.
FIG. 16 shows the user-open area 1 provided in a conventional PC server. In the user-open area 1, a card receptacle 1a is provided. The card receptacle 1a is designed to removably support a plurality of expansion cards 3. The card receptacle 1a has a slot panel 4 extending in the height direction of a housing 2. The slot panel 4 has a plurality of expansion slots 5 (only one shown). The expansion slots 5 extend parallel to one another and are spaced apart in the height direction of the housing 2.
The expansion slots 5 are covered with slot covers 6, respectively, from within the card receptacle 1a. The slot covers 6 are secured to the slot panel 4 by means of screws 7. Each slot cover 6 can be removed from the slot panel 4, so that an expansion card 3 may be inserted into the card receptacle 1a.
Each expansion card 3 comprises a substrate 8 and a connection bracket 9. The connection bracket 9 is made of metal and coupled to one edge of the substrate 8. The bracket 9 has substantially the same shape and the same size, covering one expansion slot 5 from within the card receptacle 1a. The bracket 9 is secured to the slot panel 4 by means of a screw 7. The expansion card 3 is thereby secured to the card receptacle 1a.
In this conventional structure for supporting expansion cards 3, each expansion card 3 is fixed to the slot panel 4 by a screw 7. Hence, a screw 7 must be manually set in the screw hole made in the slot panel 4 in order to hold an expansion card 3 in the card receptacle 1a and released from the screw hole in order to remove the card 3 from the card receptacle 1a. To perform the manual work, the user needs to use a tool such as a screwdriver. Further, much time and labor are required to hold the card 3 in the card receptacle 1a and remove the same from the card receptacle 1a. Still further, the connection bracket 9 may get loose if not sufficiently clamped with the screw 7, inevitably contacting the adjacent connection bracket 9 or the slot cover 6 covering the adjacent expansion slot 5.
The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,483 discloses a structure comprising a metal locking bar that holds a plurality of expansion cards in a card receptacle. The locking bar extends in the direction in which the expansion cards are arranged. The locking bar is rotatably connected at its first end to a slot panel and removably fastened at its second end to the slot panel by means of a screw. The locking bar has a pushing portion that extends between the first and second ends. As long as the second end is fastened to the slot panel, the locking bar cooperates with the slot panel, clamping the expansion cars in the card receptacle.
The metal locking bar can fasten a plurality of expansion cards to the slot panel, making it unnecessary for the user to fasten the cards, one by one, to the slot panel by using screws. Expansion cards can therefore be set into the card receptacle and removed therefrom more quickly than into and from the card receptacle 1a shown in FIG. 16.
The structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,483 is, however, disadvantageous in the following respect.
Expansion cards have the same size and the same shape which accord with the prescribed standards. The connection brackets of the cards, which the metal locking bar contacts, differ in the thickness and shape of their edges, because there are no standards for the connection brackets. Some of the various types of expansion cards available in the market have a connection bracket having a projection at one end. The projection needs to firmly contact the slot panel when the locking bar presses the connection bracket onto the slot panel. This is why the edges of the connection brackets differ in shape and size, in accordance with the types of the expansion cards.
If the edges of the connection brackets differ in shape and thickness in accordance with the types of the expansion cards, the pressure the metal locking bar applies to one expansion card will differ from the pressure it applies to another expansion card. The pressure the bar applies to one expansion card may be too low to hold the card steadily. Consequently, the card may not be held firmly at a correct position.